Samyang/Rokinon 14mm f2.8 ?

[Mladen Ilic]

Hi everybody!

I'm in dire need of a super wide angle lens that is reasonably cheap and fast enough.
I've been using the canon kit lens on my 600d/t3i as an 18 mm, when in need for wide shoots, and Samyang 35 mm f1.4, for pretty much everything else. The maximum f-stop of 3.5 (kit lens) is a big problem for me when shooting indoors and at night. But the bigger problem is the overall sharpness (or better to say lack of) of the image.
The image just isn't sharp enough, nowhere near as sharp as Samyang 35 mm, for example..

Since I already have a Samyang lens and I'm extremely satisfied with it, buying their 14 mm lens is a no-brainer, but before I do that I would be grateful for some further information..

1) Is it sharp?
2) How much does it distort the image on a crop sensor camera?

Thanks!
Mladen

[Simon Wood]

I just got the 14mm cinevised Rokinon lens and the distortion is not bad at all on an APC sensor.

At T3.1 (f2.8 I guess) its not very fast compared to the other Rokinon lenses. Like most lenses its a bit soft when wide open, but the sharpness increases as you close it to T.4.

[Andy Wilkinson]

I was with a couple of fellow filmmakers/DVInfo members in deepest Norfolk on Monday (all of us either C100 or C300 owners) and we compared this Samyang 14mm F2.8 with my Canon 10-22mm EF-S (F3.5 max, so too slow for your needs) and one of the guys Tokina 11-16mm F2.8 on the Cinema EOS cams and a 5DMkIII.

It was a try various lenses on the cams and chat about them/share thoughts type thing, not exhaustive testing. A sort of informal "Canon Cinema EOS East Anglian Group" inaugural meeting if you wish - a bit of an overstatement!!! So whilst I did not see any images from it on a monitor that day (so I can't comment about what you most want to know, sharpness etc.) I must say that the build quality and the smoothness/action of the focus ring were a joy. I think for its price point this Samyang 14mm could be a terrific lens - if it is indeed sharp. My personal least favourite of the 3 was the Tokina. The least barrel distortion was probably with the 10-22mm, from memory.

[Trevor Dennis]

Thinking back to my APS/C days, the Sigma 10-20mm was one of my favourite lenses. It was sharp, and ultra-wide, with a DoF that would stretch from 12 inches to infinite at about f22. The rock in this image is about fist sized.

Marfells Beach Revisited | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I liked the lens so much I got the Sigma 12-24mm when I swapped the 30D that was used in the above image, to a 1DsMK3, but that lens was hopelessly soft at the edge and corners. So I had to compromise with the Canon 17-40mm f4 which is sharp, but not as wide and has surprising amount of barrel distorition.

That is not a budget lens though, and the Canon 14mm prime is certainly not a budget item.

So as you are using APS-C I'd have thought 14mm would be not quite there. I've seen used Sigma 10-20mm on the auction sites at reasonable prices.

[Alister Chapman]

I have the Samyang 14mm and it's one of my favourite lenses. Distortion is quite acceptable for such a wide FOV and it really is very sharp when stopped down by a stop. It does suffer from a little bit of flare if your not careful, but overall a good lens fro the none as are all the Samyangs.

[Mladen Ilic]

Hey everybody,

thanks for the info!

[Mladen Ilic]

One more question.

Does the 14mm have the same fault with the focus ring as Samyang 35mm, when set to infinity, the focus is actually a bit beyond infinity?

[Simon Wood]

Yes. Seems to be a 'feature' of the Samyang/Rokinon lenses - you need to keep an eye on it.

[Brian Drysdale]

A demo of this lens with the front coating removed.

Samyang/Duclos 14mm uncoated lens quick demo on Vimeo

[Victor Di Persia]

Can anyone who owns a Samyang/Rokinon 14mm take a look at this video and tell me if you are having the same problem please...?

Rokinon 14mm focusing problem - YouTube

Do I have a bad copy or do they all behave like this one....?

[Alister Chapman]

That's not right. Mine is not at all like that. The focus should be repeatable.

[Nate Haustein]

Andy,

I own the 11-16mm and I feel like it just doesn't quite reach infinity focus like it should on the C100. I have the other Rokinons and think they're great for the most part. Can you comment on the sharpness at infinity for the 14mm vs the 11-16mm? The tolerances are so tight for the wide lenses, perhaps it's a good thing if it goes a tad past infinity?

[Alister Chapman]

Most lenses go a little past infinity to allow for expansion due to temperature variations, manufacturing tolerances etc.